A 22-year-old man charged with causing a drunken-driving crash that killed former University of Oregon football player Fotu Leiato has been released from jail.
Court officials said Pedro Chavarin Jr. left the Lane County Jail on Friday, after a judge reduced his bail from $250,000 to $100,000.
Conditions of Chavarin’s release were not made available by court or jail officials.
Chavarin’s lawyer said Friday in Lane County Circuit Court that his parents had hoped to bail him out of jail and take him back to their home in Southern California while the criminal case is pending.
Oregon requires a 10 percent deposit for bail, meaning it would cost $10,000 to secure Chavarin’s release.
Prosecutors have charged Chavarin with intoxicated driving, reckless driving and second-degree manslaughter, in connection with a June 15 crash on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Eugene.
Authorities allege Chavarin, who had been attending the UO before the wreck, was intoxicated when he rolled his car. He allegedly told police that he had no passengers with him, but a pedestrian later found Leiato’s body near the crash scene.
Leaito was 21. He had been dismissed from the football team in April after an arrest in a misdemeanor case.
Leaito’s mother on Friday objected in court to Chavarin’s bail-reduction request.
Chavarin’s attorney, meanwhile, said her client and Leiato had been best friends. She added that Chavarin has no criminal record.
Lane County Circuit Judge Charles Zennaché agreed to lower Chavarin’s bail but expressed concern about him leaving Oregon while the case remains open. He mentioned during Friday’s hearing that court officials consider Chavarin a low risk of failing to appear at future court appearances.
A prosecutor said during the hearing that the charges against Chavarin could change at some point. A grand jury has not completed an investigation in the case. If an indictment is returned that contains charges different from those filed by prosecutors, it’s possible that Chavarin’s bail amount would be adjusted.
Leiato came to the UO in 2015 from Steilacoom, Wash. He played three seasons for the Ducks but was dismissed from the team in April when he was charged with theft after UO police alleged he had removed a parking boot from his vehicle.